1. You must produce and manage with regular and accurate financial statements: profit and loss (a/k/a P&L, a/k/a operating statement) and balance sheet. In business, you can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you’ve been.

2. Someone in your business is likely managing cash every day. But you also need to project and manage future cash conditions over at least 12 months on a computer program like Excel. Since, as the owner, you’re the one who figures out how to cover a future cash shortfall – with more sales, expense reduction or a loan – I recommend you for that job.

3. You can succeed yourself out of business if you don’t understand the relationship between accounts-payable-days and accounts-receivable-days. This perspective will provide you with a better understanding of the impact of time on cash, and how insidiously success burns cash.

4. Declare war on excess inventory. Unless it’s turning or paid for, no piece of inventory should spend the night under your roof. Successful inventory management means just-in-time, not just-in-case.

5. Convert non-performing assets to cash. Most things are worth less today than they were last year, and they’ll probably be worth less tomorrow. If it isn’t being used, take the hit and cut it loose.